SIMIC

March, typically a slow month when factories in Asia reopen after Chinese New Year , uncharacteristically registered the highest monthly US import volume from Asia ever.

April's imports from Asia totalled 1.55 million TEU, down from 1.72 million TEU in March, but still up 25.7 per cent from April 2019, according to PIERS data.

Retailers and forwarders say the current level of imports is not an anomaly, but a new normal. Usually, imports from Asia followed seasonal back-to-school sales and spring shopping seasons, but import volumes have defied traditional peaks and troughs, surging ahead on a wave of online shopping.

Imports from China in April increased 38.3 per cent from April 2020, compared to the 29.3 per cent increase in imports from all of Asia. Since October, US imports from China have grown faster each month from China than from all of Asia.

This is contributing to growing import volumes at West Coast ports, which are best positioned for the China trade owing to the shorter distances on the transpacific.

East Coast ports, which are better positioned for imports from Southeast Asia moving on all-water services through the Suez Canal, saw their market share of imports from Asia during the first four months of 2021 drop to 33 per cent from 35.2 per cent during the same period in 2020.

US Gulf Coast ports' market share decreased to 5.2 per cent from 5.4 per cent in 2020, while the West Coast's share of US imports from Asia increased to 61.4 per cent from 59.1 per cent in January through April 2020, according to PIERS.